Rarely has there been so much fuss surrounding a cake as Helsinki has experienced in the past few years. What could be called the Ellen Svinhufvud -cake saga has taken yet another turn last week.
The saga started with the department store Stockmann (incidentally, not making its first Class 46 -appearance) rescinding their contract with the pastry shop Stella (the company which supplied Stockmann with Ellen Svinhufvud –cakes) and began acquiring Sans Rival –cakes from a Helsinki based firm Kakkukeisari in 2006. The two cakes resembled each other both in appearance and taste. As a consequence of the rescission, Stella went bankrupt in 2008.
On making their decision on the action brought by Stella’s estate, the Market Court forbade Stockmann from marketing and selling any cake that could be confused with the Ellen Svinhufvud –cake. However, the marketing and sales of Sans Rival –cakes could continue, as long as the two cakes could be distinguished from each other.
Having bought the rights to the trade mark from Stella’s estate, an entity called Billnäs’ Ruukki (owned by Management Events) have begun re-selling the cake just last week.
As what could be deemed as a happy ending, according to the press, the new owner has not excluded co-operation with the old adversary Stockmann.
FYI: The Ellen Svinhufvud -cake has been made since the 1930’s and is named after Finland’s third president’s wife who used to serve the cake at her parties.
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